DIY Engineer Puts Game Boy Advance SP Innards in Original Game Boy Case

[Greg Tito]

DIY Engineer Puts Game Boy Advance SP Innards in Original Game Boy Case

What do you do when your old Game Boy finally craps out? Take out its insides and put a Game Boy Advance SP in its place, of course.

Case mods and hardware hacking is just not my forte, but I love to hear about the engineering exploits of others. A hacker by the name of Jackson had an original Game Boy that had stuck with him for years, but he was wondering what to do with it when it dies. He got the idea of taking out all of the components and replacing them with the hardware from a Game Boy Advance SP. The screen is color instead of monochrome and the processor is way more powerful. He made sure to line up the cartridge slot, but the new Frankenstein Game Boy uses the buttons, speakers and switches of the original case. All in all, Jackson did a wonderful job updating the 1989 Game Boy to at least 2003 (when the DS Advance came out.)

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Kudos to Jackson for pulling it off. While it's not quite so amazing as MacGyver making a bomb with an avocado and a hamster, the ability to mod electronics is something that will always impress me.

Now, maybe I can get Jackson to fix my Samsung monitor that starting flickering on and off a few months ago. I know that it's just a capacitor or something that's fried but I don't have the chops to take apart the case and solder a new one on.

Source: Hack a Day [http://moddedbybacteria.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=949]


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[ChromeAlchemist]

One please. Also I'd like him to put a PC into my Game Gear.

 

[Vault Citizen]

for the most part it is cool that the original case is intact but the lack of shoulder buttons would bother me to much to want this myself.

 

[Grayjack]

(when the DS Advance came out.)

DS Advance?

OT: I kinda want one. It'd look cool playing a modern game on an old system.

 

[Snotnarok]

As interesting as it is...there's no L and R buttons making this a very useless GBA.

I do love my retro stuff but usefulness counts for a lot when it don't work.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Reminds of the pre-backlight era. Want to play your Gameboy in a room with little to no light? Tough shit! Until, of course, the ridiculous peripherals were released...

 

[NLS]

All in all, Jackson did a wonderful job updating the 1989 Game Boy to at least 2003 (when the DS Advance came out.)

The Game Boy Advance SP came out in 2003

 

[Magnatek]

Wait how does the L and R buttons work then?

That's question number one on my list with this. Question two would be, how can you expect that to last under conditions? After all, the cartridge receiver is fully exposed, unlike any of the other GBAs. However, that's just me nitpicking. It's quite a feat to have that functional.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

While I commend Jackson for this technical feat, this wouldn't be very practical in actual use. Afterall, the original Game Boy is far bulkier compared to the SP and the lack of shoulder buttons is a problem when trying to play GBA games.

A nice experiment, but I think I will just stick to my Micro.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I too ask how the lack of shoulder buttons is accounted for, assuming that it is to begin with.

 

[insanelich]

This isn't a hack too good. The cartridges of the original GB work with advance hardware, and won't line up in this version.

EDIT: And also, the "misaligned screws" on the sides are actually the shoulder buttons.

Having to use screws instead of keeping the original look already moves this hack from "eh" to "more eh".

 

[Fumbleumble]

Can I just ask "Why?".. it's not as if it's "totally rad, man".. it's a botch job with missing functionality.

So again.. "Why?".. and why is it news?

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

So where's the L and R buttons and the link cable slot? If the guy could put those on I'd send him my SP and Gamboy and AU$100 to mod mine.

 

[mjc0961]

Sorry but I'm not all that impressed with this one. With all the extra screws sticking out, the sunk-in screen, and the top of the cartridge popping out, I'd have to say that all he did is ruin a perfectly good GBASP to create something that's not perfectly good at all.

 

[Rad Party God]

I wonder where did he put the L and R buttons... they're fairly important for GBA games, but if the pourpose of this monstruosly awesome piece of engineering geekiness was to only play original GB and GBC games, then I'm cool with that.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Ah, case mods. You think the world would've realized them as pointless by no-

All in all, Jackson did a wonderful job updating the 1989 Game Boy to at least 2003 (when the DS Advance came out.)

What.

 

[doomboy29]

That is awesome! No other way to put it.

 

[Semudara]

Funny, I never heard of the DS Advance.

Anyway, more pictures of the screen would have been nice. That's what has me the most curious about this creation: how the visuals actually look on the old GameBoy screen.

 

[Voodoomancer]

Funny, I never heard of the DS Advance.

Anyway, more pictures of the screen would have been nice. That's what has me the most curious about this creation: how the visuals actually look on the old GameBoy screen.

I think he used the Advance's screen.

And yeah, this thing is awesome.